Should Christians Drink Intoxicating Beverages: The Case for Social Drinking
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Read the series.
Many people believe that it is okay for Christians to drink intoxicating beverages if they are careful to keep sober. What are their arguments?
No Christian should defend drunkenness. Drunkenness is sin, an evil to be repented of, something that cannot be defended or excused by anyone. This was the subject of our first article in this series about social drinking (Part 1).
Now that we have that clear truth expressed, we can move on to what is controversial. Many Christians today believe that it is okay to drink intoxicating beverages if they are careful to keep sober. Some might go so far as to criticize those Christians that don’t as legalistic or immature believers.
Other Christians believe very strongly that abstinence is the only position on alcohol that is appropriate for believers in Christ. They might wonder how Christians that do drink could possibly be godly. Some would insist that abstinence should be an absolute for all Christians.
After the first article on drunkenness, one reader commented:
I would be interested in knowing why you chose to share only the verses that warn against drunkenness without also sharing verses related to the gifts God has given us, the beauty of enjoying good things in moderation, verses that describe God’s people consuming alcohol, and verses that seem to even permit or promote the consumption of alcohol.
This present article was planned to show how these ideas he mentioned are indeed communicated in Scripture and must be discussed.
Wherever our starting point is on social drinking, it is very important for all of us to think biblically and respond humbly. The fact that good Christians throughout history have strong disagreement on this issue should give us pause and result in a gracious spirit towards those who disagree. The issue is a complex one.
Consider the following common arguments from those that would be in favor of social drinking in moderation (no drunkenness):
Argument 1: God’s Word describes wine as a good thing.
Both the Old Testament and New Testament describe drinking wine as normal. Not only this, but it is described positively.
Many verses describe wine as good, a sign of prosperity, of God’s blessing. God spoke to Israel of the promised land being a place of abundance of wine in many passages. Wine is even tithed upon and given to the LORD (Num 15:5-10). Ecclesiastes tells us that drinking wine has the approval of God (Eccl 9:7). Another passages expresses that wine given by God can have a positive physical influence on the body and spirit (Ps 104:14-15).
A casual search of “wine” in Scripture shows us Melchizedek, Job, Isaac, Boaz, Jesse, David, and many others drinking wine with no rebuke or negative connotation. Even Jesus and His disciples drank wine (Jn 2). Some Christians read these accounts and wonder how any believers could be zealous for abstinence.
Argument 2: Jesus turned water into wine at Cana.
Those convinced that Christians are free to drink often argue that we can do so because Jesus turned water into wine (Jn 2:1-11). Jesus and His disciples had attended a wedding feast. There Jesus performed a miracle, turning water into wine. We see from this that it cannot be true that wine itself is evil, or Jesus would not have made wine from the water in the pitchers. Jesus was without sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:14-15).
Argument 3: Jesus declared all foods clean.
Others would argue that Christians should be free to drink because Jesus declared that all food is morally clean. Jesus clearly wanted us to understand that there is no food or drink that is inherently unclean. Sin comes from the heart of man.
Further, it was under the old covenant that God told His people to keep food laws. There were foods declared clean that could be eaten, and there were other foods that were declared to be unclean and could not be eaten. Under the new covenant there are no laws about clean and unclean foods. For instance, believers today can eat pork, but under the old covenant they could not.
In Mark 7:18-23 (ESV), Jesus said,
“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (See also Acts 10:9-16.)
These verses teach us that there is nothing from the outside that can make God’s people unclean, and that includes intoxicating beverages. The liquid that contains alcohol is not inherently evil.
Argument 4: Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine.
Some who drink socially appeal to the passage where the apostle Paul told his son in the faith and missionary co-worker, Timothy, to drink a little wine for his ailing stomach’s sake (1 Tim. 5:23). Obviously, Paul did not consider the beverage to be inherently evil or unclean.
Argument 5: God did not demand abstinence for church leaders.
Another argument is that the qualifications for leaders in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-11 do not demand that spiritual leaders abstain from all alcoholic beverages. These verses tell us the spiritual qualifications necessary for those who are to be leaders, elders and deacons, in the church. These verses state that leaders must be “above reproach,” “not a drunkard,” “sober-minded,” “self-controlled,” and “not addicted to much wine,” but there is no prohibition of potentially intoxicating beverages. Paul seems to assume that believers had the freedom to drink in moderation.
Argument 6: We must be all things to all men.
1 Corinthians 9 teaches us that we must lay aside all unnecessary offenses to effectively obtain an audience for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul says, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (v.22). Obviously, Paul is not advocating sinful behavior as an acceptable catalyst for gospel proclamation.
Does this principle encourage social drinking without inebriation? Drinking alcoholic beverages is a primary activity of recreation and socializing for countless millions of people around the world, especially men. Most Christians will be invited to drink socially countless times.
Alcohol is usually offered at weekend gatherings, weddings, business functions, sporting events, etc. To be present at the table in a round of “cheers” without alcohol in one’s glass is seen as bad form, even offensive. This issue is very relevant to daily life for many Christians.
A confusing passage
One passage that confuses some is Proverbs 31:6-7:
Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
Some seem to think that this verse dismisses all argumentation for abstinence. However, the context suggests that this statement is sarcasm. It is a contrast between the king, who should never allow himself to be inebriated and his judgment impaired, with a commoner in extreme circumstances who might drown his sorrows in alcohol. Many verses should make it clear that such a response to sorrow could never be God’s will for His people. To use inebriation to deal with their stress and sorrows is not an option (Eph. 5:15-18).
Is the case closed, then?
An obvious conclusion from these many passages is that wine is not evil. We could go further and say that beverages and substances that are potentially intoxicating are not inherently evil. Even more, we see that drinking an intoxicating beverage is not sinful either.
Now that we have seen these things to be true, does this mean, then, that Christians today should embrace social drinking? Could we say that Christians have a right to drink if they so choose? Should Christians be encouraged to drink as a positive recreation to enjoy with moderation? Should social drinking be a non-issue for believers?
After considering the arguments in this article, some might consider the case closed. However, there are other passages of Scripture and biblical principles that Christians bring to bear on this subject that we have not yet considered.
As we begin to consider biblical arguments which favor abstinence, it is important for us to understand the difference between the use of wine in the Bible and the modern manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages consumed today. We cannot really have an informed or honest discussion about social drinking without considering this difference. That difference is the subject of our next article.
All Scripture quotations use the ESV unless otherwise noted.
Rooted Thinking Articles
Reposted from Rooted Thinking.
Forrest McPhail Bio
Forrest has served as a missionary in Buddhist Cambodia in Southeast Asia since 2000. He presently serves as the Asia/Australia/Oceania regional director for Gospel Fellowship Association missions. He enjoys writing and teaching on missions and the Buddhist worldview. He and his wife, Jennifer, have 4 children.
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I continue to appreciate the tone here and the effort to represent the views fairly.
On Proverbs 31:6-7, I’m not persuaded that this is sarcasm. Two reasons: Since sarcasm interpretations give statements the opposite meaning of what they literally say, I think the evidence threshold for interpreting a statement as sarcasm needs to be set high. (For example, is Proverbs sarcastic anywhere else?) Secondly, the passage does not say “drink until you are drunk.” It’s easy to leap to that image… depressed guy at a bar drowning his sorrows. But does it have to be read that way if we don’t read it as sarcasm? I’m not yet persuaded.
Disclaimer: I haven’t studied the evidence yet, so maybe support is stronger for sarcasm than for something more along the lines of medicinal use. But I’m pretty sure there are relaxing and cheering effects from alcohol that kick in before drunkenness begins. I can’t claim experience on that.
The article doesn’t dig into the support either way. Maybe it comes up again in one of the other articles in the series.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
I agree with Forrest that the topic is a complex one. As far as drinking being always “wrong,” that was settled for me with just one verse: Deut. 14:26 (with a few verses before for context). However, though this verse is sufficient to answer the right or wrong question for me, it doesn’t have all the other information we need about warnings, drunkenness, etc. (similar to how Psalm 19 makes clear that we have enough information about God that we are without excuse, but what men can see from creation is not enough for saving faith).
I’m also interested to see where this series goes.
Dave Barnhart
My take is that we might translate it "give LOTS of strong drink to those who are perishing", and to draw a picture, we do not judge a person with cancer, or recovering from surgery, for taking enough painkillers to get an ordinary person quite stoned. I think the Bible is saying "when someone is suffering horrifically, our ordinary boundaries about drunkenness are relaxed." IMO, it's quite literal, no snark involved.
(I remember that when I came out of gallbladder surgery, the amount of morphine they gave me had me rather loopy....it wasn't something I wanted to have every day, but the lack of pain when they'd made a few cuts in my body was welcome)
And at that point where one starts to "feel no pain", about .15% BAC, is about where Proverbs 23 argues the problems with drunkenness manifest themselves. I'd also suggest that for those of us who drive, the .08% limit is appropriate, and the CDC guidance on "binge drinking" (4 drinks or more in a sitting) gets one to....somewhere between the legal limit for DUI and the level Proverbs 23 speaks of, depending on one's size/gender/etc..
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
In the Bible and ancient literature, wine and alcohol are not synonymous. “Wine” refered to both alcoholic wine, and non-alcoholic wine.
Even today liquor stores sometimes have a nonalcoholic wine section.
Does the Bible refer to nonalcoholic wine? Yes. For example: Isaiah 65:8 NKJV.
My thoughts on Deuteronomy 14:26:
http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2011/08/deuteronomy-1426-does-it-commend.html
Enjoying these articles, so far.
PS – Pray for Israel!
David R. Brumbelow
And, my thoughts on wine for your stomach’s sake:
http://gulfcoastpastor.blogspot.com/2015/02/wine-for-your-stomachs-sake-1-timothy.html
David R. Brumbelow
Any usage of 1 Corinthians 9 to justify or condone questionable behavior (whether drinking, music, worship style, etc.) is a clear case of eisegesis. The context indicates that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 9:27 with the intent of conveying the need at times to restrict liberty. It has absolutely nothing to do with embracing or expanding liberty.
Kenneth, you’re right that the intent of 1 Cor 9 is to explain the need at times to restrict [our use of our] liberty. And I agree that 1 Cor 9 doesn’t teach us how to justify questionable behavior.
But (perhaps I contradict you in both these?):
- The restrictions admonished in 1 Cor 9 do not take away the underlying liberty (=right, ἐξουσία, ἐλεύθερος). For example, even though Paul had God-given reasons for not using his right to marry, the general right to marry is still valid. Peter married within that right. And even though Paul had God-given reasons for not using his right to be paid for ministry, the general right to be paid for ministry is still valid.
Also, see 1 Cor 9:20-21. Paul again explained that he laid aside some of his rights when ministering to Jews, but he retained those rights and used them in ministry “to those outside the law.”
- It is also true that there have always been debates over whether or not we actually have certain “rights.” 1 Cor 9 follows 1 Cor 8, in which Paul presented the argument certain Corinthians had for a “right of theirs” to eat in the pagan temple.
I think Forrest is right to use 1 Corinthians 9 here. But that’s because I do not think he is using it to say that anything and everything is a right and “ALL things to all men” means that ALL things are rights so long as we have some ministry goal in mind. Forrest clarified that by saying, “Obviously, Paul is not advocating sinful behavior as an acceptable catalyst for gospel proclamation.”
I would guess that, per Romans 8 and 14, that Paul would use his right to "eat anything sold in the meat market without questions of conscience" among Gentiles, but would skip taking the most common meat sacrificed--that would be PORK--among the Jews. Well, at least the ones who were still coming out of Talmudic Yiddishkeit and hadn't said...."....take, kill and eat....BACON!!!" Or something like that. And then among the Gentiles, he'd have to overcome his cultural aversion to bacon. So it goes both ways, I'd guess.
And that will, yes, inform us about our culture's approach to alcohol, because pork was just as controversial among Jews as wine is among many of us.
One side note is that there is sometimes a tendency to see 1 Cor. 9 as a process by which believers in general ought to give up rights, rather than as a description of how Paul (or Paul and a few others) voluntarily abstained from rights for the sake of the Gospel--and we might point out (see above) as well that the choice can be either to abstain, or to partake.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
What is "social drinking"?
- Contrasted with "anti-social drinking"?
- Is having beer with a hamburger (as a part of a meal at home) "social drinking" or just having a beverage that goes well with a burger?
....is a good definition for "social drinking." It means to drink moderate quantities, never getting intoxicated, in the company of others. Probably stems from the reality that a lot of alcoholics drink alone, and hence the presence of others will tend to moderate drinking. (had to look this one up!)
And I would bet that a large number of heavy drinkers who drink with others will mislead and call their drinking "social drinking", which then muddies the waters quite a bit. One of the most maddening things about problem drinking is that a first casualty is very often the truth.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
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